I am calling you NB from now on. Again, thanks for sharing all of your Florida history, sound like your have some stories to tell! Would love to hear more about your experiences during the hey-day of Florida tiki and see some family photos.

I came across this menu that confirms the South Pacific morphed into the Sun Wah Imperial, they used the same cover and drink images.

Last night at Ohana Luau’s New Year’s Eve Party in the Hawaiian Inn (Daytona Beach Shores, FL), Wailana McFall shared several family photos. Wailana leads the group of Polynesian performers there called “Silhouettes of Polynesia.” Her dad was Prince Benjamin Pokii Hele Loa I Ko Aina Kelii Waiwaiole, an actual member of the Hawaiian royalty before statehood. He organized and led a group of performers called “Silhouettes of the Tropics” that appeared mainly at the Bali Hai on Northport, Long Island, but also elsewhere, including at the Hawaiian Inn in Daytona Beach and at the South Pacific in Hallandale, Florida. In this photo, he is sitting with his family inside the South Pacific, circa 1966...

Wailana, about 2 years old, is shown sitting in front of her mother, Darlene Dawn Wharton Waiwaiole, on the left. I met Wailana’s mother last night and she gave me the information for this photo. Sitting on her father’s lap is her brother, Kelii. A step-sister is on the right.

Nice work, DC, on correlating available information regarding the South Pacific mural!

I found this South Pacific ad in the Google news archive that corroborates the information I previously posted on Prince Pokii ("Prince Pokki" in the ad) as an entertainer at the South Pacific, including the timeframe...

On 2012-01-01 19:46, TikiTomD wrote:Last night at Ohana Luau’s New Year’s Eve Party in the Hawaiian Inn (Daytona Beach Shores, FL), Wailana McFall shared several family photos. Wailana leads the group of Polynesian performers there called “Silhouettes of Polynesia.” Her dad was Prince Benjamin Pokii Hele Loa I Ko Aina Kelii Waiwaiole, an actual member of the Hawaiian royalty before statehood. He organized and led a group of performers called “Silhouettes of the Tropics” that appeared mainly at the Bali Hai on Northport, Long Island, but also elsewhere, including at the Hawaiian Inn in Daytona Beach and at the South Pacific in Hallandale, Florida. In this photo, he is sitting with his family inside the South Pacific, circa 1966...

The following South Pacific ad establishes the opening date of this Polynesian restaurant as December 25, 1959. Note the Maori Tiki in the ad whose origins were discussed earlier in this thread by bigbrotiki...

The second part of the ad underscores the extent of Mai-Kai influences alluded to in the earlier posts of bigbrotiki, Kailuageoff, Dustycajun and nibblegribitz...

Quote:

On 2005-02-04 21:13, bigbrotiki wrote:My my, that was quite a place. A rambling group of huts and structures, it was obviously inspired by the nearby Mai Kai (like every other Polynesian joint in the area).

From the second part of the ad, we can see that the South Pacific architect and the Mai-Kai architect were one and the same, Charles McKirahan...